Author: LCOEB

Over 100 new jobs will be created by 9 small businesses in Clare, Limerick and Tipperary, who have been supported by their Local Enterprise Office.

In Tipperary, Mack Engineering, Horizon Offsite Ltd and Phil Purcell Engineering Ltd will create 42 full and part-time jobs. 38 full-time jobs are being created by three Limerick-based companies, Black Bear Software, Celignis Ltd and ABS Engineering Control, and 26 full-time and part-time new jobs are being created by three Clare companies, AiP Thermoform Packaging Ltd, Core Optimisation and Vanderlust Campervans.

Eamon Ryan, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Limerick, said Enterprise Ireland is working very closely with the councils and with Local Enterprise Offices to encourage economic regional development.

The Local Enterprise Office provide support to business by way of training and development initially. “Perhaps they’ve done a start your own business course or a management development course, and then there’s financial packages available to businesses depending on the number of jobs that they are creating, the capital they might have to spend or marketing,” Mr Ryan explained.

Local Enterprise Offices are part of the family of supports set up by the Government which sees the IDA dealing with Foreign Direct Investment, and Enterprise Ireland with indigenous Irish businesses. In 2017, the Local Enterprise Offices assisted 80 businesses which went on to progress to Enterprise Ireland for further support. “That progression pathway is very much there in terms of local enterprise offices starting and developing businesses and then those businesses growing, and going on to Enterprise Ireland for further support,” he said.

People starting out or already in business are aware that the supports are available. “One of the issues, I suppose, is that they usually have to have matching funding for these supports so you get 50% grant aid and then you have to have the matching funding to be able to avail of that.”

One of the biggest challenges for all businesses, including FDI and bid business, is attracting talent, and finding people to fill jobs, he said. “I would say that small businesses are very resilient. They use different methods of recruitment. I suppose a lot of small businesses don’t advertise to get their employees. They get them through friends or through people they know.”

“Here in the Mid West we are working with the education training boards, with the regional skills officer, with the three third levels that we have here in Limerick, to assist them in putting on a number of courses, including Springboard courses to try and upskill people and retrain employees so that they are available to take the jobs available nowadays,” Mr Ryan said.

A new €500m development project has been launched for the city of Limerick, with the aim of creating more than 5,000 jobs by 2021.

The Limerick Twenty Thirty Strategic Development DAC is the first such entity created by a local authority to deliver a city and county-wide programme of investment.

The first task of the newly created Special Purpose Vehicle is to deliver over €500m worth of transformational investment infrastructure across four strategic sites in Limerick City.

The Limerick Twenty Thirty company will prioritise the redevelopment of 1.4m sq ft of prime real estate across the four sites into state-of-the-art office, retail, residential, education, and enterprise space.

The sites being prioritised for the project are: the 112,000 sq ft Gardens International Office on Henry Street, the 550,000 sq ft Opera Site at Rutland Street, Cleeves Riverside Campus on the banks of the River Shannon at Fernhill comprising eight acres and 100,000 sq ft of existing space, and the 340,000 sq ft Troy Studios Film Hub in Castletroy – where an €8m fitout is nearing completion ahead of the commencement of production.

Former Kerry Group chairman Denis Brosnan, who has been appointed as Executive Chairman of the new entity, said: “We are sending a message far and wide, and not least in the window of opportunity for FDI post-Brexit investment, that we are open for business and capable of competing with the best for it.”

If you have noticed a leak in your roof, the first thing is to try and track it down. The first step is to see if you have visual penetrations point on your roof. Items that penetrate the roof are the most common factor in roof leaks. Its quite rare for a standard slate or tile roof to develop a leak without some sort of dislodgement or penetration through the roof. Don’t forget to include chimneys, dormer windows, ventilation pipes or anything else that projects up through the roof.

If you can get into your attic and look from the inside, it can really help sometimes in locating that leak. There will be mold or water staining in the area which has the leaking point. But if access is a problem or you have a high attic ceiling, you’ll have to go up onto the roof and examine the roof externally.

ROOF LEAKS

If the problem still isn’t obvious, you can use the hose method. This involves getting a 2nd person to spray water onto the roof using a hose. Start on the bottom end first to make sure the water doesn’t run past the leak, soaking the area slightly above the leak as it appears in the house. Isolate areas when you run the hose.

For example, soak the downhill side of a chimney first, then each side, then the top on both sides. Have your helper stay inside the house waiting for the drip to appear. Let the hose run for several minutes in one area before moving it up the roof a little farther. Tell your helper to give a shout out when the leak becomes visible. You’ll be in the vicinity of the leak area. This process can take a while so have patience while you are doing it.

ROOFING COMPANY

We recommend as with all things professional to use a proper roofing company. Even when you do locate the leak, the issue becomes fixing that leak properly. If you need roof repairs in Dublin, we recommend calling a roofing expert like Top Choice Roofers to handle the leak on your roof.

Make sure to see some qualifications and get a few different quotations so you get a fair price on the repair work. Make sure to get a schedule for larger repairs as they can easily overrun time frames.

Companies backed by the IDA Ireland created 1,344 jobs in Limerick in 2015, new figures show.

The city saw seven investments over the last 12 months, with Dr Orlaith Borthwick, Limerick Chamber saying the year just gone represented “a real turning point for Limerick”.

On-demand taxi service provider Uber provided arguably the biggest boost in the city centre, announcing 300 new IDA-backed jobs in July, later adding another 100 after company bosses were impressed with what they saw in the city.

The firm took over the upper floors of the previously unused Thomas Street centre for its European Centre of Excellence, and staff are set to move in there shortly.

Johnson and Johnson announced a further 200 jobs as part of a €200m investment at its Vistakon plant in Plassey.

Nearby, online ticket marketplace web site Viagogo expanded its headcount at the former Flextronics factory by another 100.

And computer firm Dell announced an expansion of 100 new jobs, after it opened a new solutions centre.

Next door, at a building formerly used to assemble Dell computers, biopharmaceutical firm Regeneron announced a further 200 jobs, as part of €350m investment, a move which will see the New York-based company employ 500 people by the end of next year.

Finance firm Northern Trust announced an extra 300 jobs in Plassey, and water purification firm Meco also unveiled plans to create 44 jobs in Plassey, as it opens its European headquarters here.

We would like to say a big thank you to our new sponsors who are kindly helping to fund the new makeover. Every bit of help is appreciated and needed. If you would like to donate feel free to contact us and we can talk about in what ways you would be able to help to donate.

Welcome to the demo site of LCOEB. We will endeavour over the next period of time to update ourselves and try to get things back up and rolling. In the meantime we suggest checking our other LCOEB site if you need any advice or information.

BLOCK PAVING PATTERNS

When you are choosing block paving for your driveway or patio area, the options can seem very confusing. It can range from standard paving to herringbone, stretcher bond to staggered. A lot of it depends on your choice of paving chosen. Certain styles of paving lends itself better to particular styles.

For example herringbone is a very common pattern for driveway paving in Cork. It is designed for standard paving to lend itself to interlocking. This leads to a stronger bond and joint on the paving which in turn makes the paving much more secure for driving on and manoeuvring heavy vehicles on it.

Stretcher bonds are generally used on pathways that might curve slightly. It is not as strong as herringbone as they paving will not be interlocked. However for pathways it provides no problems at all as vehicles should not be crossing onto pathways.

Staggered patterns are most commonly used with cobble style blocks. Normally it is laid with 3 different sizes to allow for easier off setting and to create the old cobble style effect. However it can be laid using just one size. If one size is being used, we recommend using the larger size as it will lend stability to the driveway area. It is perfectly suitable for any driveway or patio area and will handle traffic absolutely fine.

Have a look at some of the picture below for an idea on the visuals of the different styles.

Here are some of the examples of the types of paving patterns that are available to choose from. We can help you choosing the right option when it comes to your Cork driveways. Give Ideal Drives a call today for a free no obligation quotation and we can go through options that are available to you and your driveway or patio area.

The HSI Limerick Business School has closed its doors with immediate effect after over 60 years of providing business education in the city.

Staff and students in the school were informed of the closure this morning.

Around five full-time staff and 30 part-time teachers will be affected by the closure of the school.

In a released statement, the HSI management said it was working with Griffith College in Limerick to accommodate all students who wish to continue their studies or who have applied for this year’s intake.

Any students with concerns are asked to ring either 061-310031(Griffith College) or 061-317822 (HSI).

The college said it had experienced trading difficulties as a result of the economic slowdown and also due to a decrease in demand for professional training and part-time courses.